Add full minimal‑mode support, refine folder creation logic, rename BasePath to ModulePath, enhance logging, and update README to reflect new scaffolding behavior

This update introduces complete support for -Minimal across the scaffolding workflow. New-ModuleFolders now conditionally creates only core folders in minimal mode, while full mode retains the complete directory structure. The orchestrator was updated to pass -Minimal, enforce “minimal implies no Git,” and ensure -Force refreshes generated files rather than deleting the module folder. All scaffolding functions now receive -Force for safe overwrites.

Additionally, all functions were updated to use ModulePath instead of BasePath for clearer and more consistent parameter naming. Logging improvements were added throughout the orchestrator and scaffolding functions to provide better visibility into generation steps and overwrite behavior.

Author: kael-sterling

Private/Ensure-Directory.ps1

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+function Ensure-Directory {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string]$Path,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string]$Name
+    )
+
+    if (-not (Test-Path $Path)) {
+        Write-Verbose "$Name directory does not exist. Creating it."
+        Write-Debug "Creating directory at: $Path"
+        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
+    }
+    else {
+        Write-Debug "$Name directory already exists at: $Path"
+    }
+}

Private/Show-GuiPrompt.ps1

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+function Write-FileContent {
+    [CmdletBinding()]
+    param(
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string]$Path,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string]$Content,
+
+        [Parameter(Mandatory)]
+        [string]$Name
+    )
+
+    Write-Verbose "Writing $Name to '$Path'."
+    Write-Debug "Content length: $($Content.Length) characters"
+
+    Set-Content -Path $Path -Value $Content -Encoding UTF8 -Force
+
+    Write-Information "$Name created at '$Path'."
+}

Private/Write-File.ps1

@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@
     and performs an initial commit. This function is used by New-ModuleTemplate
     when the -InitGit switch is provided.
 
-.PARAMETER BasePath
+.PARAMETER ModulePath
     The root directory of the module where the Git repository should be created.
     This must be the module's top-level folder (e.g., C:\Projects\MyModule).
 
 .EXAMPLE
-    Initialize-GitRepository -BasePath "C:\Projects\MyModule"
+    Initialize-GitRepository -ModulePath "C:\Projects\MyModule"
 
 .EXAMPLE
     $root = "C:\Modules\Tools"
-    Initialize-GitRepository -BasePath $root
+    Initialize-GitRepository -ModulePath $root
 
 .NOTES
     - Requires Git to be installed and available in PATH.
@@ -26,37 +26,100 @@ function Initialize-GitRepository {
     [CmdletBinding()]
     param(
         [Parameter(Mandatory)]
-        [string]$BasePath
+        [string]$ModulePath
     )
 
-    # Create a standard .gitignore file for PowerShell modules
+    Write-Verbose "Initializing Git repository in '$ModulePath'."
+
+    # Check for Git
+    $git = Get-Command git -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+    if (-not $git) {
+        Write-Warning "Git is not installed or not on PATH. Skipping repository initialization."
+        return
+    }
+
+    Write-Debug "Git detected at: $($git.Source)"
+
+    # Write .gitignore
+    Write-Verbose "Writing .gitignore file."
+    $gitignorePath = Join-Path $ModulePath '.gitignore'
+
     $gitignore = @'
-## Build artifacts
-bin/
-obj/
+# Ignore PowerShell module build output
+*.ps1xml
+*.cdxml
+*.xsd
+
+# Ignore compiled help files
+*.dll
+*.exe
+*.pdb
+
+# Ignore NuGet/PSGallery package files
+*.nupkg
+*.zip
+
+# Ignore temporary files
+*.tmp
+*.log
+*.bak
+*.swp
+*.swo
 
-# VSCode
+# Ignore VS Code settings and workspace files
 .vscode/
+.history/
 
-# PlatyPS temp files
+# Ignore PlatyPS temp files
 Docs/*.xml
 
-# PowerShellGet publish cache
-*.nupkg
+# Ignore PowerShellGet cache
+PSGetModuleInfo.xml
+
+# Ignore build output folders
+bin/
+obj/
+out/
+Release/
+Debug/
+
+# Ignore test results
+TestResults/
+*.trx
+*.coverage
+*.coveragexml
+
+# Ignore OS-specific files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+ehthumbs.db
+desktop.ini
+
+# Ignore user-specific files
+*.user
+*.suo
+*.userosscache
+*.sln.docstates
 
-# Logs
-*.log
 '@
 
-    # Write .gitignore to the module root
-    Set-Content -Path "$BasePath\.gitignore" -Value $gitignore -Encoding UTF8
+    Set-Content -Path $gitignorePath -Value $gitignore -Encoding UTF8
 
-    # Initialize the Git repository inside the module folder
-    Push-Location $BasePath
+    # Initialize repository
+    Write-Verbose "Running 'git init' inside '$ModulePath'."
+    Push-Location $ModulePath
     git init | Out-Null
     Pop-Location
 
-    # Stage all files and create the initial commit
-    git -C $BasePath add . | Out-Null
-    git -C $BasePath commit -m "Initial commit" | Out-Null
+    # Stage files
+    Write-Verbose "Staging initial files."
+    git -C $ModulePath add . | Out-Null
+
+    # Commit
+    Write-Verbose "Creating initial commit."
+    git -C $ModulePath commit -m "Initial commit" | Out-Null
+
+    Write-Information "Git repository initialized successfully in '$ModulePath'."
+
+    return $gitignorePath
 }

Public/Initialize-GitRepository.ps1

@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@
     directory. The file defines rule severities and allows the module to enforce
     consistent linting behavior across development environments and CI pipelines.
 
-.PARAMETER BasePath
+.PARAMETER ModulePath
     The root directory of the module where the AnalyzerSettings folder exists.
     This is typically the path returned by New-ModuleFolders.
 
 .EXAMPLE
-    New-AnalyzerSettings -BasePath "C:\Projects\MyModule"
+    New-AnalyzerSettings -ModulePath "C:\Projects\MyModule"
 
 .EXAMPLE
     $root = Join-Path $env:TEMP "TestModule"
-    New-AnalyzerSettings -BasePath $root
+    New-AnalyzerSettings -ModulePath $root
 
 .NOTES
     This function is automatically invoked by New-ModuleTemplate.
@@ -26,16 +26,18 @@ function New-AnalyzerSettings {
     [CmdletBinding()]
     param(
         [Parameter(Mandatory)]
-        [string]$BasePath
+        [string]$ModulePath
     )
 
+    Write-Verbose "Creating PSScriptAnalyzer settings for module at '$ModulePath'."
+
     # Path to the AnalyzerSettings directory
-    $settingsDir = Join-Path $BasePath 'Analyzer'
+    $settingsDir = Join-Path $ModulePath 'Analyzer'
+    Write-Debug "Analyzer settings directory resolved to: $settingsDir"
+
+    # Ensure the directory exists
+    Ensure-Directory -Path $settingsDir -Name 'Analyzer'
 
-    # Ensure the directory exists (New-ModuleFolders normally creates it)
-    if (-not (Test-Path $settingsDir)) {
-        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $settingsDir -Force | Out-Null
-    }
 
     # Default analyzer configuration
     $content = @'
@@ -55,10 +57,13 @@ function New-AnalyzerSettings {
         }
     }
 }
-
 '@
 
     # Write the settings file
     $settingsPath = Join-Path $settingsDir 'PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1'
-    Set-Content -Path $settingsPath -Value $content -Encoding UTF8
+
+    Write-FileContent -Path $settingsPath -Content $content -Name 'PSScriptAnalyzer settings'
+
+    return $settingsPath
 }
+

Public/New-AnalyzerSettings.ps1

@@ -9,19 +9,19 @@
     - Regenerates PlatyPS documentation
     The script supports switches to skip individual steps.
 
-.PARAMETER BasePath
+.PARAMETER ModulePath
     The root directory of the module where the Scripts folder will be created.
 
 .PARAMETER Name
     The name of the module. Used to reference the module manifest and display
     status messages inside the generated build script.
 
 .EXAMPLE
-    New-BuildScript -BasePath "C:\Projects\MyModule" -Name "MyModule"
+    New-BuildScript -ModulePath "C:\Projects\MyModule" -Name "MyModule"
 
 .EXAMPLE
     $root = Join-Path $env:TEMP "TestModule"
-    New-BuildScript -BasePath $root -Name "TestModule"
+    New-BuildScript -ModulePath $root -Name "TestModule"
 
 .NOTES
     - The Analyzer folder is intentionally named "Analyzer".
@@ -31,51 +31,57 @@ function New-BuildScript {
     [CmdletBinding()]
     param(
         [Parameter(Mandatory)]
-        [string]$BasePath,
+        [string]$ModulePath,
 
         [Parameter(Mandatory)]
         [string]$Name
     )
 
-    # Ensure the Scripts directory exists
-    $scriptsDir = Join-Path $BasePath 'Scripts'
-    if (-not (Test-Path $scriptsDir)) {
-        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $scriptsDir -Force | Out-Null
-    }
+    Write-Verbose "Creating build script for module '$Name'."
+
+    # Ensure Scripts directory exists
+    $scriptsDir = Join-Path $ModulePath 'Scripts'
+    Ensure-Directory -Path $scriptsDir -Name 'Scripts'
 
-    # Template for the build script
+    # Template for the build script (Write-Host removed, modern patterns used)
     $content = @'
 param(
     [switch]$SkipTests,
     [switch]$SkipAnalyzer,
     [switch]$SkipDocs
 )
 
-Write-Host "Building __MODULE__..."
+Write-Information "Building __MODULE__..."
 
 if (-not $SkipAnalyzer) {
-    Write-Host "Running PSScriptAnalyzer..."
+    Write-Information "Running PSScriptAnalyzer..."
     Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer -Path $PSScriptRoot -Settings "$PSScriptRoot\Analyzer\PSScriptAnalyzerSettings.psd1"
 }
 
 if (-not $SkipTests) {
-    Write-Host "Running Pester tests..."
-    Invoke-Pester -Path "$PSScriptRoot\Tests" -EnableExit
+    Write-Information "Running Pester tests..."
+    Invoke-Pester -Path "$PSScriptRoot\Tests"
+    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
+        Write-Error "Pester tests failed."
+        exit $LASTEXITCODE
+    }
 }
 
 if (-not $SkipDocs) {
-    Write-Host "Updating PlatyPS docs..."
+    Write-Information "Updating PlatyPS docs..."
     Import-Module PlatyPS -ErrorAction Stop
-    New-MarkdownHelp -Module "$PSScriptRoot\__MODULE__.psd1" -OutputFolder "$PSScriptRoot\Docs" -Force
+    Import-Module "$PSScriptRoot\__MODULE__.psd1" -Force
+    New-MarkdownHelp -Module __MODULE__ -OutputFolder "$PSScriptRoot\Docs" -Force
 }
 
-Write-Host "Build complete."
+Write-Information "Build complete."
 '@
 
     # Replace placeholder with module name
     $content = $content.Replace('__MODULE__', $Name)
 
-    # Write the build script
+    # Write the build script using helper
     $buildScriptPath = Join-Path $scriptsDir 'build.ps1'
-    Set-Content -Path $buildScriptPath -Value $content -Encoding UTF8 -Force
+    
+    Write-FileContent -Path $buildScriptPath -Content $content -Name 'Build script'
 }